decennium

[ dih-sen-ee-uh m ]

/ dɪˈsɛn i əm /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR decennium ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural de·cen·ni·ums, de·cen·ni·a [dih-sen-ee-uh] /dɪˈsɛn i ə/.

a period of ten years; a decade.

Nearby words

decenary, decencies, decency, decennary, decennial, decennium, decent, decenter, decentralize, decentralized processing, decentre

Origin of decennium

From Latin, dating back to 1675–85; see origin at decennial

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for decennium

We have much need to distinguish century from century and decennium from decennium.
The Expositor's Bible: The Acts of the Apostles, Vol. 2|G. T. Stokes
He was occupied actively with teaching, but the dominant feature of the decennium was his assumption of the Darwinian doctrines.
Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And Work|P. Chalmers Mitchell
The decennium extending from 1550 to 1560 was the good period of Ivan IV.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 1|Various
But with intellectual matters it is totally different; they change from century to century, nay, from decennium to decennium.
Popular scientific lectures|Ernst Mach

These are the only monuments of early typography acknowledged to come within the present decennium.
Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries, Vol. 1|Henry Hallam

British Dictionary definitions for decennium

decennium

decennary (dɪˈsɛnərɪ)

/ (dɪˈsɛnɪəm) /

noun plural -niums, -nia (-nɪə) or -naries

a less common word for decade (def. 1)

Word Origin for decennium

C17: from Latin, from decem ten + annus year

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012